The majority of children do come to school to learn, but it only takes a few persistent troublemakers to rob an entire class of that opportunity. Disruptions in the form of lateness, talking out of turn, and disrespecting the teacher and other students take a serious toll on the educational process. Polls have shown that parents, teachers, and the…

The effect teachers have on student achievement is perennial. Several factors contribute to declining teacher morale. Teachers have an insuperable amount of responsibilities and duties. Stress related to increased federal, state, and local demands, low pay, lack of administrative support, and heightened discipline problems, are all factors that…

In New York City, middle school educators experience student behaviors that adversely affect the school environment and academic achievement. These middle school teachers indicate that the current traditional measures used to address these issues are ineffective. As a result, there is now an appeal from these middle school teachers to institute…

How can schools create safe, well-supervised classroom environments while also teaching students skills for managing their behavior on their own? This invaluable guide presents a framework for achieving both of these crucial goals. It shows how to balance external reinforcements such as positive behavior supports with social-emotional learning…

This case study worked with 80 lecturers drawn from Israeli teachers' colleges who reported that they face relatively few discipline problems; most appeared to be related to low motivation and/or dishonest behaviour. They treated each case in an ad hoc way, responded mildly and avoided imposing sanctions. It is argued that the student teachers'…

During the past several years, there have been growing concerns regarding the effectiveness of school discipline policies, as well as their disproportionate impact on African American and Latino students. For at least a decade, questions have been raised about district-level "zero tolerance" policies that have contributed to larger…

Educators in the United States have been socialized to believe that their mission in teaching is to play nice and treat all of their students the same, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, or gender. What is often missing in this teaching-all-equally approach is a counter-narrative that questions whether teachers can in fact successfully act as…

The transition from elementary to middle school is difficult for many students. However, the association between such transitions and changes in the types and frequencies of student discipline problems has not been adequately investigated. Using data from two school years, infractions and dispositions for all 5th-grade students (N = 4,196) from…

Judicial review of decisions on student discipline is limited in Malaysia. This arises because of the general presumption that in the enforcement of school discipline, educators are able to act in the best interest of the student to maintain a safe learning environment. This article examines the range of disciplinary measures in Malaysian schools…

This book provides a roadmap to developing a high-trust classroom, a classroom: (1) With increased student achievement; (2) With few discipline problems; (3) Where students are intrinsically motivated; and (4) Where the teacher can confidently use creative lesson planning. The author presents a simple step by step approach to earning the trust of…

Each year, between 10 and 20 percent of schoolchildren in the United States are exposed to domestic violence. According to psychologists, such exposure can lead to aggressive behavior, decreased social competence, and diminished academic performance. A majority of parents and school officials believe that children who are troubled, whatever the…

This article proposes 10 steps for dealing with children with discipline problems. (PD)

Discusses the practical psychology involved in handling classroom misbehavior. (GB)

This article focuses on the development and implementation of primary and secondary behavior supports at a schoolwide level. The approach described is consistent with previous efforts to address behavior at a systems level (e.g., G. Sugai, R.H. Horner, & F.M. Gresham, 2002). In this article, we illustrate this process through a school-based…

Cooperative behavior is important for well-functioning high school classrooms in which students trust their teachers and actively engage in academic tasks. Yet, discipline referrals for disruption and defiance are all too common and can result in lost instructional time and increased teacher stress. As such, more needs to be understood about…